Fa Mulan

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Powers and abilities

Weapons

Fate

Restores her family's honor by becoming the savior of China, and subsequently marries Li Shang.

Quote

"Maybe I didn't go for my father. Maybe what I really wanted was to prove I could things right. So when I looked in the mirror, I'd see someone worthwhile. But I was wrong. I see nothing.""My duty is to my heart." "You said you'd trust Ping. Why is Mulan any different?"

Contents

Background

Origin

The original story of Mulan was based on the fifth-century Chinese poem the Ballad of Mulan. The original poem was originally a short fable, designed to show gender equality, but in the following centuries, it was developed until Hua Mulan became a legendary figure. As little contemporary evidence exists other than the poem, it is unknown whether she was a real or fictional figure.

Personality

At the start of the film, Mulan is introduced as a free-spirited outcast, clumsy and unable to follow rules, regulations, or traditions. Nevertheless, she has a warm heart and wants nothing more than to uphold her family honor, while keeping true to herself. Because of society, however, this is difficult to accomplish, often bringing chaos and embarrassment into her life.

The driving force of Mulan's journey is the love she has for her father, whom she joins the army in order to protect, as well as her desire to prove her own self-worth. She was seen having difficulties with self-confidence, due to society's mistreatment towards her, as well as the pressures of the society she was born into—particularly in the lives of women. Early in the film, whenever she went against sexism and injustice, or simply handled a situation in her own, unique way (such as shouting "Present!" when the matchmaker called her name), Mulan was greeted with anger or some form of annoyance from those around her, thus furthering her socially-awkward attitude.

During her time in camp, Mulan's personality takes a shift. She proves to be fierce, physically and mentally, as well as self-reliant, impressionable and persistent. As she learns the ways of strength and agility, she becomes the top of her class, setting an example for the men surrounding her, eventually earning their respect and friendship. Over time, Mulan's quirky ways, and comedic elements are faded, symbolizing her growth, as she becomes more of a mature woman by the third act of the film; one who has the ability to perform successful tactics through quick-thinking and mental observation, as opposed to mere brute strength (something that is idealized in her camp) which would eventually result in saving her fellow soldiers, as well as China, on notable occasions. Nevertheless, she retained her humble nature, not once becoming overconfident and boastful, even after becoming a beloved heroine and receiving countless amounts of praise and respect from the very society that continuously opposed her. It wasn't until Mulan returned home and received a loving welcome from her father that she truly emoted her satisfaction over her previous successes, proving her goal, overall, was to uphold her family honor, while being true to herself; this being visually and thematically represented by her relationship with her father.

By the sequel, it is shown that Mulan's personality, seen during the latter half of the first film, has remained. Mulan is a responsible young woman, seen as a fearless warrior, leader, and beloved role model amongst her people, both men and women. Nevertheless, she is also fun-loving and jovial, especially when seen with Shang, whom she had developed a strong, romantic relationship with by the start second film. The sequel also shows her to be rather laid-back, open-minded and philosophical, believing in the practice of following one's heart.

Physical appearance

Mulan is a 16-year old tomboy of Chinese origin. She is a natural beauty, with dark brown eyes and straight, black hair. However, her hair length changes. In the beginning of the original film, her hair was long and went down to her waist. Later in the film, when she leaves to join the army, she cuts her hair with her father's sword and ties it up in a bun, which helps her blend into the army so that the other soldiers don't know that she's really a woman. In the second film, her hair was grown, not to its original length, but it's noticeably longer than before. In promotional works, her hair is always shown as its original length, down to the waist.

Mulan, under the guise of Ping.

During the two films, Mulan wore a range of outfits, from beautiful Hanfus (Chinese dresses) to her soldier's getup, though her most notable outfits come from the original film; in which her promotional dress comes from, which is a simple Hanfu, which consisted of either a creamy green-yellow dress, with blue over shirt, which has green sleeves, and a red band around her waist. She also sports kung-fu styled soldier's outfit, as well as her pink matchmaker's Hanfu and her father's armor.

Besides, when she goes to the matchmaker, Mulan does not to wear any makeup or anything to beautify her appearance but, even without anything to enhance her looks, Mulan is naturally beautiful nonetheless.

When she sleeps, she wears a light blue tank top, short blue shorts, and is barefoot. She wears a dress consisting of a green long-sleeved shirt with olive brims and both yellow skirt and inside shirt with a low cut neckline, blue wrap, red waistband, black ballet flats, but also has been seen barefoot as well. To impress the matchmaker, she had her face painted in white, red lips, black hair tied in a loose bun with a red hair ribbon, narrow crimson and pale pink Chinese skirt, pink jacket with long, flowing sleeves, aqua and plum collar, blue wrap with a red ribbon to fasten it, light purple scarf, same color shoes, jade bead necklace, gold dangling earrings, and a special lotus flower hair pick. When she was disguised as "Ping," she has black hair tied in a bun with a teal ribbon to look like a man (when cuts her long, beautiful hair with her father's sword), and dark green soldier armor. In the Martial Arts sequence, she had a cream suit. In the Shan Yu battle, she wore a teal dress consisting of a poet-sleeved blouse, long olive vest with a crimson collar, crimson belt, light pink sash, and same color shoes.

Abilities

Although Mulan possesses no magical or superhuman powers, she has military training courtesy of Shang.

Martial Arts: As part of her training, Mulan learned kung fu, eventually becoming proficient in hand-to-hand fighting.

Swordsmanship: Mulan honed her skill with her father's sword and became an expert swordswoman, easily holding her own against even the battle-hardened Shan Yu.

Marksmanship: Under Shang's tutelage, Mulan developed skill with ranged weaponry, from the bow and arrow to gunpowder cannons.

Horseback riding: Even before her time in the army, Mulan is an excellent equestrian, further enhanced by her bond with loyal steed Khan.

Strategist: Mulan is also intelligent, cunning and resourceful. Knowing her unit was vastly outnumbered, she was able to quickly think of using the last cannon to cause an avalanche on the entire Hun army, quite literally stopping them cold, and later lure Shan Yu into Mushu's firing range. When she pulled out her fan, she acted as though she was in shock from having nothing left to fight with, when all along she planned to disarm him with it.

Appearances

Mulan is the only child of Fa Zhou, a former war veteran, and Fa Li. Mulan is forced to go to the town Matchmaker to find her a husband, which ends in humiliating failure. Shortly after, the Chinese Emperor's counselor, Chi-Fu, arrives in her village to announce that the deadly Huns, led by Shan Yu, have invaded China and that one man in every family must serve in the war, being conscripted into the Imperial Army to reinforce the Emperor's troops. Despite her protests, her father says that he will go in spite of his old age and old war wounds. Mulan decides to go in his place posing as a man, cutting her long hair with a sword, stealing her father's armor and riding away on her horse, Khan, so she will keep him from risking his life. As of that night, her journey to honor has begun.

On her way to the army camp, Mulan meets Mushu, a small dragon who claims to be a guardian sent to her by her ancestors. He agrees to help her pass as a soldier. Though Mulan fails the army training at first, she uses her intelligence and determination and becomes the first soldier to solve a puzzle set by Captain Li Shang, her unit's commanding officer.

Afterward, she rapidly progresses to become one of the best soldiers in the unit. She also befriends Yao, Ling and Chien Po, three fellow soldiers, though she is forced to hide her gender. Through the machinations of Mushu, the soldiers are called to the war front.

After finding that the main Imperial Chinese Army, led by Shang's father General Li, has been completely destroyed by the Huns, Shang leads Mulan and the other soldiers to stop them. Despite the unit being outnumbered after Mushu blows their cover and alerts the Huns to their position, Mulan is able to defeat the Huns by starting an avalanche and burying them by way of the last rocket in the army's munitions. She sustains an injury from Shan Yu, which results in her true gender being revealed. She is spared death, the punishment for a woman joining the army, as Shang's way of repaying the debt from Mulan rescuing him during the previous battle.

Mulan is left behind by the army and prepares to return home to face humiliation. However, she discovers that Shan Yu and his five generals have survived the avalanche and are heading towards the Imperial City. Mulan arrives first and attempts to warn Shang. As a woman, however, she is ignored by him and everyone else except for Yao, Ling and Chien Po, and orders them to keep an eye out for Shan Yu and the surviving Huns. However, when Shan Yu reveals himself and captures the Emperor, Shang, Yao, Ling and Chien Po join her in a rescue attempt. Mulan disguises herself, Yao, Ling and Chien Po as concubines and takes out the Hun guards, allowing Shang to reach Shan Yu and the Emperor. Yao, Ling and Chein Po escape with the Emperor, but Mulan remains behind after Shang is knocked unconscious by Shan Yu.

Mulan facing Shan Yu during the final battle.

She reveals herself to the ruthless leader of the Huns as the soldier who took out most of his army, which angers Shan Yu. Shan Yu draws his sword and angrily slashes at her, tearing down portions of the palace in the process. While running from Shan Yu, she comes up with a plan to kill him by means of fireworks. While Mushu and Cri-Kee fetch the fireworks, Mulan faces Shan Yu on the roof of the Emperor's palace. She disarms him with a paper fan and uses his sword to pin him to the roof, allowing Mushu to launch a firework rocket at Shan Yu, presumably killing him on impact with a nearby fireworks tower. Mulan is oppressed by Chi Fu for the final time when he arrogantly says that as a woman, she is unworthy of being called a hero or being worth anything.

Mulan is then confronted by the Emperor with her various crimes, having heard about them from Chi Fu. At the same time, he acknowledges that she saved all of China and bows to her out of respect. His gesture results in all the gathered people bowing as well. The Emperor first offers Mulan a council position, then a job as consul, both of which Mulan respectfully declines, explaining that she'd much rather go back home to her family. The Emperor accepts this, and gifts her with his personal crest and Shan Yu's sword. Having changed from a once gawky misfit into an honorable heroine, Mulan returns home and is able to reconcile with her father. The end of the film shows Mulan inviting Shang, who had followed Mulan under the guise of returning her helmet, to dinner. She is last seen thanking Mushu for his guardianship.

Taking place one month later, Li Shang, now promoted from Captain to General, proposes to Mulan, and they begin preparing for their wedding. However, the Emperor tasks them both with escorting his three daughters to the neighboring Chinese kingdom of Qui Gong in an attempt to form an alliance. Should the alliance fail, the Mongols would invade China just like the Huns did. Mulan and Shang ask Yao, Ling and Chien Po to accompany them. Shang and Mulan's relationship becomes somewhat strained during the trip, as the couple has differing views on various issues, particularly on the subject of the arranged marriages the princesses are being forced into. Meanwhile, Mushu is informed that if Mulan marries Shang, he would cease to be a guardian, instead of being returned to his former job of Gong Ringer. Mushu takes advantage of Mulan and Shang's differences and tries to break them up. However, Mulan soon discovers Mushu's plans and tries to reconcile with Shang, after voicing her disappointment with Mushu and how she'll never forgive him for his actions.

Before she can talk to Shang, bandits attack the group. Shang and Mulan are able to save the princesses, but are left hanging from a broken bridge. Shang chooses to sacrifice himself, as the bridge can only support one. Mulan and the princesses continue towards Qui Gong. Seeing that the princesses have fallen in love with Yao, Ling, and Chien Po, and believing that Shang is dead, Mulan prepares to offer herself as a bride in their places. However, Shang is revealed to have survived his fall, and travels to stop her. Mushu is able to fix things by masquerading as the Golden Dragon of Unity and forces the King to stop the wedding. The joyful princesses are released from their vows, and Shang and Mulan are informally married. They later hold an actual wedding at the Fa family home, although it is not known how much time has passed since they returned from Qui Gong to the Imperial City.

At the end of the film, it is revealed that Mulan has told Shang about Mushu, and that prompts Shang to combine the family temples, allowing Mushu to remain a family guardian, much to the disappointment of Mulan's ancestors.

While singing a song called "Stronger Than You Know", she teaches Sofia, Amber and Jun that they are stronger than they know by showing them how to cross over the moving warrior statues with vines and tells them to go on to save their beloved fathers and brothers without her.

Just like Ariel in "The Floating Palace," she does not appear in her redesign outfit. Instead, she has her much shorter shoulder-length hair and wears her father's battle armor along with her helmet and a new golden sword.

Cameos and other appearances

In Lilo and Stitch, Mulan is featured on a poster in Nani's bedroom. Also, a Chinese restaurant called "Mulan Wok" can be seen in the town.

Live-action appearances

A live-action version of Mulan is a character of the popular ABC series Once Upon a Time. She is played by actress Jamie Chung and holds a major recurring role in the series. Before the Dark Curse was cast, Mulan served in the army of the Emperor of her native land, and she proves herself in battle.

Later Mulan encounters Belle outside the den of the Yaoguai in her home Empire. Belle lures the creature out of its lair, but it attacks and Belle runs from it. Mulan then fires an arrow at the beast, making it run away. She then goes to Belle but berates her for scaring the beast and ruining her chance of killing the Yaoguai and saving her village. She storms off into the woods, telling Belle that the best way she can help is to stay out of her way. When Belle is later accosted in Mulan's village by her former traveling companions, Mulan attacks and drives them away, saving Belle in the process, but receiving a wound to her leg. When Belle inquires as to why Mulan saved her, Mulan tells her that Belle was able to find the Yaoguai and track it in a matter of hours, while it had taken her months to do so. She asks Belle to help her track the beast, and then Mulan will kill it. Belle agrees. As they go after the Yaoguai, Mulan discovers that her injury to her leg is worse than she thought, and tells Belle that it is up to her to go and defeat the Yaoguai. Belle at first refuses, but after Mulan encourages her takes the sword and goes after the Yaoguai. After turning the Yaoguai back into Prince Phillip, Belle goes to Mulan and introduces the two of them. Belle decides to go back to Rumplestiltskin and leaves the two of them behind and thus starting their friendship.

Later at some point, Mulan joined Prince Phillip on his journey to find Princess Aurora (played by Sarah Bolger). They were on the journey when the Evil Queen cast the Dark Curse. However, the area that they were in was spared by the curse merely freezing them in time for 28 years. When Emma Swan broke the Dark Curse in Storybrooke, they continued their journey.

Mulan is present when Phillip awakens Aurora with True Love's Kiss, but the reunion is cut short when a Wraith appears in the palace. Phillip fights the creature, yet is unwillingly marked by the gold medallion it wore. Mulan explains that the Wraith sucks the souls of its victims. Upon realizing this, Phillip goes to sacrifice himself leaving Mulan and Aurora behind. Mulan figures out what he's up to and goes to stop him, but is followed by Aurora. The two women confront each other with Aurora stating that Mulan has feelings for him as well. Mulan simply denies this, stating although she and Phillip fought side-by-side together many times, she has no romantic feelings for him. The two discover Phillip and his soul is sucked by the Wraith in front of Mulan and Aurora. The women carry Phillip's seemingly dead body back to the palace where Aurora slept. It is there Mulan explains to Aurora what happened while she slept. They hear a noise and find Emma Swan and her biological mother Mary Margaret Blanchard under a pile of rubble. Thinking that they were the reason for the Wraith's appearance she and Aurora take them as prisoners to a safe haven where the survivors of the curse are gathered.

Emma and Mary Margaret are thrown into the pit. Mulan is seen talking to Aurora about Lancelot and then Aurora tells Mulan that she does not trust Emma and Mary Margaret. Mulan warns Aurora not to confuse vengeance with justice. Later, she is seen giving Emma and Mary Margaret weapons for their journey to The Castle. In the woods, Mulan tells the two women that they will make a camp and that they need to get fire and water. When Mary Margaret makes a fire, Aurora attacks her and the two start arguing. Mulan appears and tells Mary Margaret to not talk to Aurora like that and that she will deal with Aurora. Emma appears and fires a gun to try to protect Mary Margaret but has instead summoned ogres. The group splits up and Mary Margaret saves Emma from an ogre. Later on, Mulan tells Aurora to keep up and that it is her own fault that she is not dressed for the woods as she was told to stay in the safe haven. Emma takes pity on Aurora and gives her her jacket. When the group arrives at the castle, Mulan informs Mary Margaret that she and Aurora will keep guard at the gate. The two later go into the castle to rescue Mary Margaret and Emma from Cora, who was disguised as Lancelot. Mulan tells the others that she cannot believe she was fooled by the shapeshifter and is not sure about what to tell the survivors once they got back. Mary Margaret tells her that she should tell them the truth, that Lancelot died a heroic death. Mulan then suggests Mary Margaret becomes the new leader. Mary Margaret says that she appreciates it but cannot as she has to get home to Storybrooke with Emma and Mulan and Aurora agree to help the two.

When the four women return to their camp, Mulan is horrified to see that all of her fellow residents were killed, seemingly by Cora ripping everyone's hearts from their bodies. Aurora discovers Captain Hook beneath a pile of bodies, and Hook attempts to deceive the four of them by stating he survived Cora's attack on the camp by hiding under some dead bodies. Mulan is not buying his story and ties Hook to a tree with Emma's help and begins to walk away with the women. Hook then reveals his true identity as a shocked Mary Margaret pulls his hook out of his satchel. He states that he was working with Cora, but will now join forces with Emma and her team. Emma then cuts him free. He leads them to a giant beanstalk stretching up into the sky, with Mulan pointing a sword at his back, stating that there is a magical compass at the top, but first, they must deal with the giant. At the base of the beanstalk, Mulan insists that she should be the one to climb the beanstalk, stating she is the most experienced warrior of the four women. However, Emma overrules her but takes her aside before climbing the beanstalk. She asks Mulan about the strength of her sword, and Mulan states that it is the strongest sword in the land. Emma then asks Mulan that if she is not back in 10 hours, if Mulan will cut the beanstalk down and make sure that Mary Margaret gets back to Storybrooke. Mulan agrees and then provides Emma with ground poppy in order to knock the Giant unconscious. After Emma and Hook set off, Mulan then draws a line in the sand and sticks a stick in the sand at the end, saying to the other two women it is a way to keep track of the watches each of them should have. When it reaches ten hours, Mulan takes her sword and deals a heavy blow to the beanstalk. She is then tackled by an infuriated Mary Margaret who demands to know what she is doing. Mulan states that it is her daughter's wish. Just then, Emma jumps off the beanstalk, so Mulan does not need to cut the beanstalk down.

In the Enchanted Forest, Mulan is present when Aurora awakens from her dream. Before she can talk to Aurora, zombies attack the encampment, and Mulan runs off with Aurora in another direction, leaving Mary Margaret and Emma behind to face the zombies. Mulan and Aurora encounter more zombies in the forest, and when Mulan is tackled by one, the other two manage to grab Aurora and get away with her. Mulan beheads the zombie she is being rushed by and then encounters Emma and Mary Margaret and informs them that the zombies got away with Aurora. Mary Margaret then states that she must be put back to sleep in order to contact Henry, and Mulan reluctantly tells them that in order to do that, they need more Ground Poppy Dust. She tells them that there is a little poppy growing nearby, and from that, she can create the dust needed. As they are hacking their way through the forest with Mulan leading, a raven swoops onto Mary Margaret's shoulder. It communicates to her that if the magical compass is not given to Cora by sundown, then something will happen to Aurora. Immediately Mulan demands the compass from Emma, and when Emma does not give it freely moves to physically take it from her. Emma and Mary Margaret convince her to allow them till sundown to contact Henry and come up with a plan. If that does not work, then they will give the compass to Mulan so she can rescue Aurora. Mulan reluctantly agrees and leads them to the poppy, where she cuts it and crushes it with her dagger. She then blows the powder into Mary Margaret's face, putting her to sleep. When Mary Margaret wakes up, she and Emma discover that Mulan has taken the compass and run. Mulan is then shown running through the forest, but is stopped when Mary Margaret fires an arrow at her to halt her in her tracks. Mulan turns to face them and a distraught Mary Margaret demands the compass. When Mulan refuses, she tackles Mulan and pulls an arrow out of her quiver and presses it against Mulan's neck. Mulan still refuses to give them the compass, saying that they will have to kill her first. Mary Margaret raises the arrow just as Aurora comes around a tree and tells Mary Margaret to stop. Aurora then tells them all that occurred and asks what they are going to do next. Mulan asks if she is okay before they follow Mary Margaret and Emma.

As the group arrives at Rumplestiltskin's cell in the ruins of the palace, Mulan uses her torch to search the cell for any sign of the squid ink. After Aurora finds Rumplestiltskin's note, Mulan finds a small glass vial that is empty, although it may have contained ink at one point. They are then entrapped in the cell by Cora and Hook, and Cora reveals that she has Aurora's heart in her possession. After Cora and Hook leave, Mulan apologizes to Aurora for allowing Cora to get her heart. Soon after, Mary Margaret uses the squid ink in the note that was written by Rumplestiltskin to open the cell and allows the group to escape. At Aurora's insistence that she cannot be trusted due to Cora holding her heart, Mulan reluctantly ties her to the remnants of the jail cell. At Lake Nostros, the group arrives to find Hook and Cora about to jump through the portal to Storybrooke. Mulan, Emma and Mary Margaret immediately attack. Mulan is able to battle Cora using her sword and is able to deflect her magic with the blade. As Mulan moves to attack Cora, Cora vanishes in a puff of smoke, and Aurora's heart nearly falls into the portal when Hook reaches out and grabs it, tossing it to Mulan. After Emma knocks Hook out, Mary Margaret tells Mulan to go and give Aurora back her heart. Mulan gives Mary Margaret her sword, saying it will deflect Cora's magic before running back to the palace ruins. She is able to put Aurora's heart back in her chest. Aurora then tells Mulan that Cora told her that Phillip may be able to be revived, and the two friends set off to recover his soul.

At some point in their quest, though through unknown means, they managed to recover Phillip's soul and revived him. The three later appear in the season finale, where they find Neal Cassidy unconscious on the beach outside of the Enchanted Forest. They take him back to the palace and tend to his injuries as Mulan keeps a close watch on the stranger. Upon awakening, she asks who he is, to which the man responds with his name, Neal. Her companions, Aurora and Prince Phillip, rush over to inspect the stranger. Hastily, Aurora helps to bring water to him while Neal wonders where this is. She says him he is in their kingdom, and further questioning prompts Prince Phillip to tell Neal they are in the Enchanted Forest. Shocked, Neal murmurs he is back, which causes Aurora to think he's a native of this land, but Mulan points out his clothes are foreign and similar to Emma and Mary Margaret's. At the mention of Emma's name, Neal realizes they are acquainted with her as well, and tries to explain he needs to save Emma from harm. In attempting to move from the bier, Neal struggles to sit up as his wound is not yet completely healed, but despite that, he is set on finding out if Emma and Henry are alright. Aurora queries if Neal is Henry's father, and goes on to fill him in on how she once met Henry in the Netherworld. She mentions having harnessed the power to walk the dream world and find others like her, and it's possible to find Henry. Neal asks if she can find Emma to let her know he is alive.

Assuming a laying spot on the bier, Aurora attempts to find with Emma or Henry in the dream world. While Prince Phillip watches over her, Mulan and Neal wait at the sidelines and converse. Mulan learns Neal assumed death was imminent after falling into the portal, and from focusing his thoughts of the Enchanted Forest, that's how he ended up here. Curious about the other world, Storybrooke, she asks what it's like there. Neal starts off by saying people of that land believe the Enchanted Forest inhabitants to be fictional and exemplifies it with the Mulan animated movie. Confused, she inquires what a movie is, but the exchange is interrupted by Aurora's awakening.

Crestfallen, Aurora notifies Neal she was unable to make contact. However, Neal recalls his father always had plans and could have left something behind if he ever came back to the Enchanted Forest. He has hopes of finding such an item and using it to get to Emma and Henry by traveling to his father's castle. Prince Phillip raises the question of who his father is, and Neal admits it's Rumplestiltskin.

Mulan and Neal go on foot towards the castle. Wishing to learn more about Neal's relationship with Emma, she asks why Emma never mentioned him before. Neal confesses he broke Emma's heart by letting her go to fulfill the breaking of the Dark Curse, and after it was finished with, fear of rejection kept himself from coming back to her. Mulan remarks that his belief in love wasn't strong enough to overcome rejection, which Neal says is the greatest regret of his life.

Through a brief search, Neal finds his father's old cane, which he uses to reveal a hidden door in the castle. From within, Neal discovers a crystal ball. Reluctantly, he agrees magic is the only thing that can help him now and attempts to get the ball to activate by touching it, which causes no change. Mulan suggests to think about how he feels about Emma, and that will guide him to see her.

Mulan and Aurora.

Afterward, Neal devised a plan to get to Neverland: he will use Robin Hood's son, Roland, to lure the shadow to the castle, while they and Mulan lie and wait. After it appears to have failed, their plan works, and the shadow arrived for Roland. Robin managed to hold on to his son long enough for Neal to grab the shadow, and Mulan managed to force it to back off and fly back to Neverland, successfully taking Neal with it. Later, Robin Hood thanks Mulan for her help, and offers her to join his band of Merry Men. Mulan appreciates the offer but urgently has to talk to someone first before it's too late. Knowingly, Robin Hood believes she means a loved one, though she smiles and replies only time will tell. She rushes to the palace to approach Aurora. After making sure they are alone, Mulan announces that she has news to share. Coincidentally, so does Aurora, who excitedly confirms she and Prince Phillip are expecting their first child. Mulan reacts with shock but quickly congratulates her. Recovering from her stupor, Mulan changes her mind about what she wanted to say and hastily states her intent to join Robin Hood's band of Merry Men. Leaving abruptly, Mulan turns to walk away with a saddened expression on her face. Later that night, Mulan arrives at the Merry Men's campsite and is greeted by Robin Hood, unaware that he's the man with the lion tattoo that Tinkerbell tried to have Regina meet back in the Enchanted Forest.

Sometimes later, Mulan became a bodyguard for hire, though it is unclear whether or not she is still a part of Robin's Merry Men. On one of her duty, she was assigned to protect King Fergus' daughter, Merida, for Clan DunBroch's upcoming war with the Northern Invaders. However, she's actually tasked by Fergus to keep Merida from going into battle with him. By the time they arrived at the battlefield, the clan, and the invaders were already fighting each other. They spotted a knight coming towards Fergus with a sword, but despite Merida's effort to stop him, Fergus was killed.

Mulan and Merida facing Zelena and Arthur.

Two years later, old turmoils have taken its toll on Mulan, leaving her cold and callous. She now works to collect money debts from people for her employer, until Merida found and ask her for help. Returning to the site of the old battlefield, the two had found a piece of cloak from the knight who killed Fergus. However, before they can continue their investigation, they were confronted by Zelena and King Arthur. During her search in the old witch's hut, Mulan encounters a wolf inside. Right away, she knows the wolf's identity, and after knocking over a nearby cauldron, the smoke engulfed it and revert it back to none other than Ruby. With her help, Mulan and Merida found out that Arthur is the knight who killed Fergus. As Merida faces off against Arthur, Mulan and Ruby battles Zelena. After defeating the two, Mulan and Ruby stopped by Fergus' grave to bid Merida farewell. Though Mulan admits that she is too late admit her feelings for her lost love, she is still not over it. So Ruby encourages her to join her to find other werewolves like her as a way to heal from past wounds, which she accept.

Mulan with Ruby and Dorothy on their way to Oz.

Together with Ruby, Mulan aided her friend in her journey to find her pack. Their search took them into the woods near Oz, which Ruby is familiar with, and where they encountered Dorothy and her dog Toto. After they informed Dorothy of where they're heading, the three spotted a green cyclone, which Dorothy realized that Zelena has returned. Zelena holds Toto hostage and demands the silver slippers from the three to reunite with her daughter, in exchange for Toto's safety. To save Toto, Mulan creates a concoction that can put Zelena to sleep, but she needs poppies to complete the brew, which Ruby and Dorothy managed to acquire while having just escaped a pursuit from a couple of Zelena's flying monkeys. Finally completing the brew, Mulan gives it to Dorothy. As Dorothy retires to her tent to rest for the night, Ruby confides with Mulan about Dorothy's reaction at seeing her turning into a wolf. At first, Ruby worried about Dorothy's rejection, until Mulan encourages her not to hold back, as she doesn't want Ruby to make the same mistake she made.

Later, Mulan and the munchkins from Oz found Dorothy placed under a sleeping curse by Zelena. They stand vigil until Ruby returns. Using the silver slippers, Ruby and Mary Margaret were transported from the Underworld to Oz, where the former managed to save Dorothy with true love's kiss, waking her up and breaking the curse. After admitting their feelings for each other, Ruby and Dorothy seal their blossoming romance with a kiss as Mulan, Mary Margaret, and the Munchkins happily look on.

Video games

Due to her world being destroyed by the time off Kingdom Hearts, Mulan did not appear in the first game, while her companion Mushu had escaped the world's destruction. However, by Kingdom Hearts II, Mulan plays a major role in her homeworld when it is restored after Kingdom Hearts.

Reprising her role from the original film, Mulan (as Ping) plans to join the Imperial army until she encounters Sora, Donald and Goofy. The trio decides to enlist with her after learning she was trying to help her family. Despite difficulty fitting in with the soldiers, Mulan proves herself worthy when she defeats Shan Yu and his Heartless while saving Shang's life. However, Mushu accidentally reveals Mulan's true identity to him, causing an enraged Shang to desert Mulan and the group. Afterward, the group learns that Shan Yu is still alive, and are forced to follow him back to the Imperial City when he kidnaps the Emperor. After defeating the villain, Mulan is thanked by both Shang and the Emperor. By the time Sora had arrived back, Mulan had begun hunting a mysterious cloaked man who she believes is an enemy spy, but Sora knows it is a member of Organization XIII. As they followed the cloaked man to the mountains, a Heartless dragon awakes, courtesy of Organization member Xigbar. This forces Mulan and the others to battle the Heartless and defeat it. Mulan gives her support to Sora when he leaves to continue his journey to find Riku and Kairi. As a reward for her honor, the Emperor makes her Shang's partner. During the end credits, Mulan and Shang were having a romantic moment in the Bamboo Grove, only for their moment to be interrupted when Yao, Ling and Chien-Po were spying on them.

In the game, Mulan has been kidnapped to the World of Illusion by an evil witch known as Mizrabel, as part of a dark scheme to steal the essence of beloved Disney characters for her own selfish purposes. Fortunately, however, she is soon rescued by Mickey Mouse and remain within a sanctuary with the other rescued Disney characters until Mizrabel's eventual defeat, allowing the characters to return back to their homes.

Disneyland offers extra theme park entertainment as part of the "Happy Lunar New Year Celebration". In honor of the Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese Lunar New Year, the celebration features live performances, activities, and food. "Mulan's Chinese New Year Procession" is seen at selected times throughout the day, in which Mulan and Mushu proceed in colorful costumes to a photo location area where guests can meet-and-greet with them along with Chip 'n' Dale dressed in Asian-inspired attire.

Mulan and Shang appear in the stage show The Golden Mickeys (also featured previously in Storybook Theater at Hong Kong Disneyland). Mulan also has an extended section in the show Wishes, where she performs both "Honor to Us All" and "Reflection".

Despite not being a princess by birth or marriage, Mulan is an official member of the highly popular Disney Princess franchise, though not marketed as prominently as other princesses like Cinderella or Ariel. Even so, she remains one of the most acclaimed members of the franchise, often referred to when giving examples of strong female Disney heroines.

Redesign

Mulan's face was elongated very slightly and is no longer as rounded as it used to be. The epicanthic folds by her eyes have also been sharpened a bit to give them a more narrow appearance. Her body type was also changed to a more hour glass shape from her original androgynous figure in the film.

Mulan wears an elaborate, bejeweled gold hair clip and her now waist-length hair is long and flowing. The material used in her Hanfu dress is metallic-looking in appearance and texture and still sports the same color from her old appearance. In early redesigns, her dress is more reddish with sparkles, much of her black hair is loose and down instead of having the hair clip.

Her face and the other visible parts of her skin appear to be whitened with powder, with her cheeks touched with rouge and her lips painted red; somewhat resembling a more traditional Chinese bride.

Other early redesigns included her dress being bright gold and dark red instead of green, blue and yellow.

Differences from the source material

Fa Mulan is based off the character Hua Mulan from the Epic Poem The Ballad of Hua Mulan. Hua Mulan eventually became a legendary figure. As little evidence exists other than the poem, it is unknown whether she was a real figure. Hua Mulan seems to be more feisty, assured of herself, socially graceful and effortlessly talented. Disney's Fa Mulan is a more repeatable teenage girl struggling to find her way.

Mulan's surname is spelled using the Mandarin pronunciation for "花", which is "Hua". Disney uses the spelling for the Cantonese pronunciation.

In war she takes the name of her aged father "Hu".

Mulan had an older sister and a younger brother named Tiger Eye.

Mulan was already well versed in archery, swordsmanship, spearmanship, bojutsu, martial arts and various other forms of hand-to-hand combat; being taught the increasingly numerous and highly useful trades of self-defense from her father.

In The Ballad of Mulan, she had left home to battle in the Wei army at the age of eighteen, and returned home twelve years later at the age of thirty.

Mulan gained high merit in her twelve years of fighting as a woman but refused any reward and advisory jobs working for the Emperor that would make her and family prosperously wealthy and rich beyond her dreams. She had desired to return home to take care of her dear father whom she had not seen in twelve long years.

Hua Mulan had no sense of awkwardness and fits seamlessly into society whether she is a feminine woman or disguised as a masculine man.

Mulan actually liked wearing makeup and wearing feminine hair styles and opted to wear them after returning home from war.

Mulan's identity as a woman was never revealed while in service. Shortly after returning home, her fellow warrior comrades who had served with her came to visit. Though they were stunned to see an extremely beautiful woman instead, and then learned the truth about their good friend and general, and praised her for all she had done for them.

Mulan was asked to be a concubine/lover to the Emperor in one version, but she denied this offer and instead took her own life before she was charged.

Gallery

Trivia

Her pink bridal outfit is often confused for a kimono (Japanese), but is actually the Chinese garment hanfu.

Mulan is the only Disney Princess to not be royalty. She wasn't born into royalty, nor did she marry a prince.

Mulan spends most of the time in her training uniform, her battle armor, or her blue infiltration dress, while in the merchandise, she is shown mostly in her "normal" dress or her pink matchmaker dress.

Mulan is the second Disney Princess to have both parents alive and present during the entire film, the first being Aurora in 1959 and the third being Rapunzel in 2010, and Merida being the fourth in 2012.

Mulan means "magnolia blossom" in Chinese. It could also mean "wood orchid".

While her name is "Fa Mulan" in the Disney film, in the actual Chinese legend her name is "Hua Mulan", though they are both pronounced similarly (Fa being Cantonese).

The name Mulan uses while disguised as a man – Fa Ping – is a pun on the Chinese term for "eye candy".

In the Chinese dub, when giving her fake name to Li Shang, she states her full name is Hua Ping. Hua Ping translates directly as Flower Vase, and is modern Chinese slang for an effeminate homosexual male. This is adapted into the Chinese dub so that when Ping is introduced, the others think he is a feminine homosexual male, and use that as the basis as to why 'he' tries, and fails, to be manly.

Mulan is left handed but is seen using the sword in her right hand, so she may be ambidextrous.

Originally, the film makers planned to have Mulan join to the army to get out of her society. Though the way she feels about society is still present in the movie, it is not made to be the main point. She seemed selfish and unlikable that way, so animators stuck to the traditional way of her saving her father.

Mulan's voice was originally going to be done by Tia Carrere, who later voiced Nani Pelekai in Lilo & Stitch. Lea Salonga (her singing voice) was considered but her voice wasn't low enough for Ping before they found Ming-Na.

When Mulan disguises herself as a male, her eyelashes and double eyelid disappear and her eyebrows grow thicker, but when she dresses like a woman again, her eyelashes grow back, her double eyelid comes in again, but her eyebrows remain thick.

Mulan touches her hair a lot because animators noticed that Ming-Na did.

Mulan is, by far, the Disney character (heroine or villain) with the highest body count ever. The production team had drawn 2,000 Hun soldiers during the Huns' attack sequence, along with 2,000 more horses. Only six Huns survived to the avalanche and only one of them (Shan Yu) is killed later. This makes Mulan's final body count to 3,994 (Shan Yu is killed by Mushu, rather than Mulan, and not a single horse survived).

Mimi Chan did the motion capture for Mulan's martial arts moves.

In the Disney Princess line-up and dolls, Mulan is often shown as being more tanned than the others besides Jasmine, Pocahontas and Tiana. However, in the new 2013 type line-up and their merchandise, Mulan is shown as the palest one.

In the Special Edition DVD audio commentary, it is said that though Mark Henn is her animator, Christopher Sanders (Little Brother's animator) was the one who mastered her quirky character.

Mulan is often noted in an audio commentary that she uses her mind to solve problems and with the learning at the camp can use a combination of strength and intelligence.

In the deleted part of "Reflection", Mulan says, "they want a docile lamb, no one knows who I am," which is true throughout the first movie and sometimes between scenes of Qui Gong and Mulan's marriage in the second movie, she claims to have told Li Shang everything.

The recoloring of Mulan's redesign may be due to the fact that red and gold were often considered by the Chinese as the colors of communism or because in ancient China, the royal color was gold and red was the color of luck and prosperity.

All of Mulan's dresses in the first film had a blue bodice and a red sash.

Mulan sings a remix of another song in the play Mulan Jr. called "Written in Stone". She also sings a remix of "Keep 'Em Guessing".

On the cover of Mulan 2, Mushu is holding a ring (probably an engagement ring), but it is never in the movie or given to Mulan, possibly due to Chinese marriage traditions.

Her side of the yin and yang necklace is the yang side, associated with masculinity.

Although Mulan cuts her hair, it remains long in the Disney Princess merchandise.

Mulan is shown in several deleted scenes in which one she is daydreaming of how she wants to demonstrate her adventurous/tomboyish spirit.

Mulan's curtain has white ducks or swans on it.

Mulan is the second Disney Princess to say a prayer, and the first to pray multiple times she says one to her ancestors while on her way to the Matchmaker in Honor to Us All. She silently prays to them two more times, once in "Reflection", where she kneels before their alter, another where she lights incense and bows to them before she leaves to take her father's place in the army.